A Numbers Game
by HelenVanPattersonPatton
Summary: Sure, she doesn't think they should have sex. Doesn't mean she doesn't want to. *Set at the beginning of 2x16: Indian BBW*


**A/N:** _This is a borderline M rating. If that's not your thing, turn around now._

* * *

He's been leaving for the last ten minutes, Mindy pressed against her front door as he goes. Apparently her mouth is blocking his way. Danny's hand slides higher, brazenly grabbing her breast.

"Okay," Mindy shoves him away as much as she can, which isn't far. "This stops being_ 'can I at least kiss you goodnight?_' when you start honking on Owen."

"You named your breasts Owen?" Danny grinning down at her rack admiringly, like he would like a more formal introduction.

"Just the left one." She shrugs.

"What about poor no-name? So neglected." He grazes the backs of his fingers along the rise of her breast, knuckle catching on her nipple protruding under the faux snakeskin fabric.

"_no_ - " her voice is small, watching the way his eyes are glittering, knowingly working her up. Mindy straightens her spine and tries to force confidence in her voice. "No. The other one is Vince."

His eyes flick to her face and back to her chest. "Vince, huh? I think you and I are gonna be pals." Danny pinches lightly and leans in, placing his open mouth on the hollow of her throat.

Oh god, it's a good thing she's pressed against the door because her legs have turned to water.

"Danny - Danny. You can't do that." She presses on his shoulders.

"You want me to go?" He pulls back, eyes glazed and clearly more effected than she realized.

"No. Don't go." He pulls on her neck to kiss her, but that isn't what she meant. Not really. "I don't want us to have sex."

"Okay, Min." He takes two steps back. "You don't want us to have sex? Fine, whatever. Just stick to it. This is getting -" he gestures to the front of his pants "- uncomfortable. So pick. Staying or going?"

"It's a no to the sex for sure." She waves a hand between them.

"Thanks. You know how to stroke a man's ego."

"But it is a yes to the staying."

He shrugs looking back at her with those stupid eyes and stupid pouty, just-been-kissed mouth, and _fuck_. Why did she have to be such a disaster at relationships in the past? It is so unfair that those bad decisions make taking this slow feel necessary. Worth it, but super unfair. She _really _wants to have sex with him. "Spend the night with me. Sexlessly."

"Like on the couch?"

"No." She reaches for him. "In my bed, with me. No funny business, though. You think you can handle that?"

Danny looks her slowly up and down in a way that makes her instantly rethink both of their self-control before shaking his head. "No."

She bites her lip and is completely turned on by the idea of him losing control.

"But I want to try anyway," he says.

"Yeah?" Why is she so surprised he said yes?

"Yeah. I don't want to leave."

She can feel the smile breaking her face and can see it reflected in him as he darts forward to kiss her. At the last second she slips her fingers in between their mouths, blocking him. "Um. Probably shouldn't do that. I'm going to get ready for bed."

* * *

There is a swarm of butterflies freaking out in her stomach from the look on his face as she closes her closet door. Does he even know he's doing it? Looking at her like she's the most amazing woman in the world. Like he's in lo-

Oh god, this is such a bad idea. She should never have set rules for them and then asked him to stay. Mindy's hands are shaking as she riffles through drawers trying to find something neutral to sleep in, and she can't focus on it. That moment with Cliff bouncing in her head: 'I'm in love with someone.' It was hyperbole to scare off Cliff is all. She didn't mean it. It's crazy-too soon to mean it.

She jerks on a pair of modest shorts and a T-shirt then darts across the hall, slamming the bathroom door accidentally behind her.

"You okay?" There's laughter in his voice as he calls from the bedroom. And it's Danny, so it's comforting and makes her feel a tiny bit like an idiot for acting like a cracked-out gazelle.

"Fine. Don't worry about me. Fine, fine, fine." It's too many fines. Mindy turns to the sink and faces one of women's biggest dating questions - take off the makeup or leave it? He's seen her with no makeup like a million times and is still here, so it's not like she hideously deformed or anything. But she knows what she looks like in the morning, so... She washes off her foundation and lipstick and leaves the concealer around her eyes and that one weird blotchy patch on her forehead. With all her eye make-up still on she's going to have to sleep with her hand jammed between the pillow and her face to keep from ruining the pillowcase.

Finally, teeth and hair brushed, peed, hair brushed again, she opens the door.

Danny's propped, arms folded on the headboard behind him and eyes closed in his black undershirt and boxer briefs. She stands by the door a moment and tries to figure out what random good karmic thing she must have done to set in motion this happening.

"Like what you see?" Danny grins without opening his eyes.

"Smug much? Your ego is clearly still fine." She sits on her knees next to him, the mattress dipping and his hand coming to rest on her waist like there's a homing device there. "I do."

"Huh?" His sleepy eyes crack open halfway.

"I like what I see. And I like it being in my bed."

He sits forward so they're faces are inches apart. "Mindy -"

"I know. I shouldn't say crap like that when I'm asking you to be good."

"That's not what I was going to say."

"Oh."

"Just - I like what I see, too. And there's no place I'd rather be." His face is perfectly sincere and there's no doubt in her mind that he means both of those things.

And she's in love with him.

Fine. She just is. And she's not going to fuck this up. So she swallows the words bubbling up in her throat and kisses him on the cheek, knowing that anything more than that and she wouldn't be able to stop. "Goodnight, Danny," she whispers into his skin, and turning away quickly and flicking off the light.

They slip under the covers in the dark and she can't close her eyes, heart battering her ribcage with fear. Surely if he saw her face he would know, would see '_I love you_' tattooed on her forehead, not like she needs a reminder. How is that for taking things slow?

Mindy takes deep, even breaths until the tightness in her body begins to loosen, fear easing and making room for the joy blossoming in her chest.

Danny turns on his side and wraps an arm around her waist, pulling her tightly against him, his nose buried in the hair at her neck. She presses her smile into her wrist and wonders if you can get TMJ from being too damn happy.

"Don't do that," he says, face muffled in her hair.

"What?"

"You're wiggling. Stop it."

"I'm not." Or she wasn't meaning to, anyway. "And what if I am? Go back to your side."

"But I want to spoon you. So stop."

She definitely going to get TMJ, suppressing a giggle under her hand. It's unfair when she does it again, Mindy rotating her hips to see him get frustrated and flop away with a huff. It doesn't go like she thought it would - when does it ever? - and he isn't huffing, instead drawing his knees up so she's the lying down equivalent of sitting on his lap, a noticeable bulge pressed low on her backside.

"I said stop," he growls.

Mindy nods, unsure of her voice. The harsh breath from his exhalations is tickling her and he keeps moving his head like he can't get comfortable. Then he tugs aside her hair with the hand he's had awkwardly mashed under the pillow and kisses her neck softly. It's the first time he's ever kissed her there and it feels like a revolution, her body awakening.

It makes her push back, needing to be closer to him. His hand grips her hip tightly, stilling her where she's ground into him. Even stayed it's too much, her heart racing, the way his lips are still pressed to the tender skin of her neck making her sigh.

Danny groans when she does, the sound apparently washing away the last of his self control, and he slides his hand forward, cupping her firmly through her shorts. It's only pressure, his hand unmoving, but it's still enough to make her gasp, pleasure zipping across her skin.

He bites on her shoulder and she jerks against him in surprise. Fuck this. She needs him.

Mindy rolls back toward him, his fingers slipping away making her shudder, and she pulls him over her. The way he slots perfectly between her open legs and kisses her, fingers sneaking under her shirt brushing her skin makes her head swim.

She clutches at him, raising her knees higher, and he rocks into her. Even through two layers of fabric it's enough to make her muscles clench. He does it again and it feels almost like a tease. "Danny," she says against his mouth, the word sounding exactly like the plea that it is.

Mindy runs her hands down his stomach to the waistband of his underwear. He stops her, gripping her wrist tightly, his mouth leaving hers. He's panting over her, breath hot on her face and it forces her to open her eyes.

Danny's face is all shadows but his frown is clear. "I'm sorry."

Her stomach flutters because he's stopping for her, because it's what she said she wanted, and it's adorable. "I'm not. Now kiss me." She pulls on him and he doesn't budge.

"Mindy." He moves her hands away. "I think we should stop."

"What? Why?" Danny sits back and lying there with her knees apart without him between them makes Mindy feel weirdly vulnerable. Drawing her legs together, she scoots higher in the bed.

"I don't want you to regret it."

"I won't. Come here." She reaches for his face.

He grasps her hands midway. "I'm going to go."

"Are you being serious right now?" Danny doesn't answer her, instead standing up and reaching for his clothes. "Danny!"

"I don't want to go! But - God, Mindy, you've been insisting for the last three hours you want us to wait to have sex. This is not how I want this to go, not tonight. I don't want to have to wonder if you really weren't ready and I persuaded you with my - my sexual magnetism."

"Okay," she laughs, reaching out to him. "Point taken. Come back to bed."

Ignoring her, she watches him move around in the darkness, finding his shoes and shrugging on his jacket. It makes her feel stupidly rejected, even though he's doing what she's asked of him. She should be pleased he's taking this seriously, both wanting to do this right.

He walks back to her, fingers feathering across her cheek, and kisses her gently. "Goodnight, Mindy."

Danny locks the door behind himself, a not so subtle reminder that he already has her spare key, and yeah, this was so not their first date.

Mindy flops over, punching the pillow next to her in frustration. She lies there until she can come back around to why she wanted to wait in the first place before being compromised by Danny's so called sexual magnetism. God, he is such a dork and she can't help smile. She is in big trouble. How is she ever going to survive being in love with Danny Castellano?

She's nearly asleep, the phantom feeling of his arm still snugly around her when her phone pings with a text. Of course it's from him.

_ Tomorrow all bets are off._

It makes her heart race with anticipation. It pings again before she can reply.

_ This is Dan._


End file.
